


That Which Is Bad

by RedTeamShark



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, Post-Episode 07, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 01:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13776984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/pseuds/RedTeamShark
Summary: Having companions means his problems are no longer just his own.





	That Which Is Bad

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look I wrote fic for this show because now I'm In Too Deep.

“Caleb!” Mollymauk’s voice is the only warning he gets before a hand claps on his shoulder, large and warm and close, far too close for his own comfort. The Tiefling leans in close to him, voice low. “Take a walk?”

He should say no,  _ wants _ to say no, all he wants right now is a quiet place and a good book so that he has something to look at while he definitely  _ doesn’t _ think about it. He should say no, but he sees the look on Molly’s face, the same damned look that Nott has when she asks him about finding shiny things. Is that look something she’s taught their new companion, or is it just something that people who aren’t like him innately know how to do?

“Sure.” The reluctant agreement accompanies his shrug and thank the gods, that hand drops off his shoulder. Molly falls into step beside him, leads him along through the still rebuilding town of Alfield. 

“So…” There’s nothing comforting about the forced casualness in Molly’s tone, nothing that says this is going in any direction except where Caleb doesn’t want it to. “Back there in the mines--”

“I’m fine.”

“You were practically catatonic.”

“Yes, I was, and now I am fine. There were a lot of different things happening.” The sooner he can get through this nightmare of a conversation the better. His voice picks up pace and he just hopes that his staggering heartbeat isn’t audible in his words.

“Bad memories?” His silence speaks loud enough to answer. “Look, I’m not here to judge. Personally, I live by the motto ‘there are no bad deeds, only bad reasons for deeds.’ But sometimes you need another perspective to know if your reasoning was good or bad and sometimes you need someone to reassure you that the bad things aren’t coming back.”

“I know that.”

“You’ve been quiet is all.”

He inhales, shaky, looks anywhere but at Molly beside him. “I am always quiet. It’s sort of my thing. I like books and being alone and not talking to other people and--”

“Nott.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“And you like Nott. Hell, you dote on her like you’re her own father and she adores you like you hung the very stars. Curious relationship. They say that nothing brings people together like trauma.”

He wants to yell, to tell this… this  _ circus freak _ that he knows  _ nothing _ about Nott, or himself, or what happened to them, or where they come from, or why--Caleb steadies his breathing, stops walking and forces himself to meet Molly’s eyes. “I am fine. What happened in the mines was--was temporary. It will not happen again and I am  _ fine _ so if we could never talk about it again that would be very much appreciated.” He turns, walks back the way they came before Molly can answer. He doesn’t turn around when a voice calls after him.

Maybe it’s time for Nott and him to move on again.


End file.
